An Android in Mourning
by The Miser
Summary: Krillin has died and now Android 18 must find some way to live with the grief of his death, but she may find that the help she needs will come from the most unlikely source.


I would like for everyone to forgive me for my lack of activity. Things are hard here at home, but I'm finding the ability to write again so things should pick up.

This story will mark the second entry into my new "In Mourning" series. The series will consist of different stories of DBZ characters dealing with the loss of loved ones.

The house was deathly quiet. It was still early in the morning. The smell of the warm oceanic air confirmed the time of day. Salt hung heavily in the air as usual, but there was the slightest hint of the faint smell of dew. I always was fascinated by how the smell of dew could be carried so far out to sea. Back when I was younger I might have actually cared on asking someone about it, but now I just didn't seem to care any more.

Even though was fast asleep, I could tell all of that. It came with what I was. No matter what, I was always alert. This allowed for me to always know what time of day it was, even if I was asleep.

Warm air blew in through the open window and caressed my cheek. I knew that it was just the wind, but I allowed myself to believe it was something else. The warm air continued to gently caress my cheek, this made me begin to purr a bit in pleasure at the memory the air brought back. "Krillin…" My voice was soft and low. Suddenly my ears heard me speak and I awoke out of the memory.

My previously happily beaming face went pale as I realized that was just a dream. I grunted angrily as I sat up in bed. My annoyance was directed towards the odd fact that I always awoke from peaceful dreams of happier times, but not when I had nightmares. Images flashed before me like a horrific slide show. They were all gory, naked, and pure fear.

As the images went away, I got up and walked over to the vanity mirror. Krillin had bought it for me as our 9th anniversary present. My present to him was me in lingerie. Needles to say he liked his gift. I sighed at the happy memory. The time was quickly approaching that I would no longer be alone in my room.

Quickly I began to brush my hair with a hairbrush Krillin had bought me as a birthday present the very year he got me the mirror. The thing about my birthday was that I didn't know exactly when it was. All I knew was that it was in July. Krillin would treat every day of July as my birthday. He spoiled me, but I have always been spoiled.

I found it peculiar that of all the memories of my past that I retained, the ones of me being selfish, prude, slutty, and a spoiled rotten brat were the ones I remembered the easiest. It was ironic that all of those are what had gotten me kidnapped by the doctor. Fate had a way of being so cruel. The damn doctor would tell my brother and I that all of the time with his sick laughter booming each time.

I tried not to focus on those thoughts. It became easier to do so as I continued to brush my hair. For a second I stopped and I could swear I saw Krillin walking up behind me with a stupid grin and proclaiming how heaven was missing an angel. For the first anniversary we shared with Marron out of the house, I had Bulma lengthen my hair back to what it had been when Krillin had first met me. It took a week to get the blood out of the carpet from his and Roshi's nose bleeds.

"18? Are you awake in there?" A frail old voice sounded through the wooden door. I didn't feel like talking, so I just tapped on the wall with the brush. My visitor took the hint and entered immediately after. He was a small old man with a bushy white beard and bushy white mustache. His shiny bald head shone in the sunlight from my window. It reminded me of how Krillin looked when I first met him. "I brought you some breakfast."

Without looking away from the old man, I tossed the brush behind me to the bed. "Thank you Roshi. It smells good, what is it?" The old martial arts master handed me the tray with a large smile of pride. His eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, but I could tell his beady eyes were watery from the compliment.

The old hermit laughed and put his full weight on the walking stick he carried around. "It's my special turtle soup!"

I took a small sip and let the delicious liquid drip down my throat, "It is possibly your best batch yet. I hope you didn't have to cook Turtle up for this." My voice was emotionless as usual. I spoke that way so that I wouldn't have to tell anyone I was hurt. If you could hear emotion in my voice, which meant that something was wrong. That was how I did things. I was never one to actually ask for help.

With a laugh Roshi let it be known he was proud of the soup, "Turtle is fine, as fine as a talking turtle can be." The joke was dry, very dry. That was the kind of joke Krillin would tell. Tears began to build up in my eyes at the though of Krillin telling one of his old jokes.

Slowly I put the tray of food on the little table that was against the wall. Without even looking at Roshi, I started to cry. The old man rushed to me and gave me a gentle hug. Roshi had been able to hold back his perverse actions on me since Krillin died. It had been so long since the old man had playfully grabbed at my ass and breasts. Now I couldn't believe that this old man was a pervert. I guess I was finally seeing Roshi in the way Krillin and Goku did, as a kind old man who loves every living being.

"I didn't mean to upset you." Roshi's words were sincere. He couldn't have known that I would react like this. I cuddled into his warm embrace for comfort. It had been so long since I had actually been emotionally comforted that I didn't even know if it was possible.

For some reason I started to hate the embrace. _'What is this old pervert doing?! Only Krillin is allowed to hold me like this!'_ I pushed Roshi off of me violently. Roshi took the hint and left, but it wasn't before he was going to leave me with a word to help calm me a bit. "Remember that Trunks, Marron, and the kids are coming over soon. They loved Krillin just as you did. It may be wise to see if being around them will help." Roshi left the room as I shot him a death glare.

_'How could they love Krillin the way I do?! Trunks is a spoiled little brat, Marron is our daughter and she has no idea just what her father meant to the world, and their kids are far too young to have loved Krillin too much!'_ I cursed myself for the mental outburst. If Krillin were here then I wouldn't have to deal with this right now. Everything would be perfectly fine.

I closed the door and locked it. There was no reason anyone should disturb me right now. It has been several months since Krillin had died. The bed still smelled of him. That was one reason that I stayed in bed so much. The smell of Krillin had always helped me to calm down. Whether it was his smell when he hugged me while I had nightmares or when he and I trained, the smell always helped.

Words could not even describe how much I missed Krillin. Everyone was devastated by the loss. Krillin died in his sleep on this very bed. It had been a year or so since my brother had sold himself to Gero and that alien scientist and he had killed Krillin. We used the Dragon Balls to bring him back to life, but when Krillin died this time, Dende told us that he had died too many times. That meant that Krillin would remain dead. That just made me miss him more.

The sheets were becoming stained from my tears. There was several stain already of where I had previously cried into them. I didn't care. If I were to wash the sheets to rid them of the tears, then I might lose Krillin's scent that remained behind. It was all I had left of him. He had been my second love.

No one knew the story of my first love. That dumbass Yamcha didn't even know I could love, but I could. Krillin had been the first one to return the notion, but he wasn't the first one I had fallen for. Before my beloved bald monk came into my life, there was Android 16. He was incapable of emotions, yet he was able to show far more compassion than 17 and I had. What had struck me about him was his peacefulness. He never fought. 17 just classified him as a useless piece of scrap. 16 wasn't a piece of scrap, he just didn't want to hurt nature.

He honestly loved nature. It was that love that caught my attention, but when he was protecting me from Cell, he gained my heart. I knew he would never return the feeling. It was soon after Cell had absorbed me that I was told Krillin went ballistic. He was cute, but I didn't think he could actually care for an android. It was ironic I thought that. I had fallen for an android as well, but I was cold hearted and evil. Back then I would have rather killed Krillin than kiss him. That was how the little bald man had gained my heart.

I still think about 16 sometimes though. Now it is only to compare his kindness to Krillin's. Somehow I had met two of the kindest beings in the universe and I had fallen for both of them.

More tears gushed as I thought of how many nights Krillin would hold me at night in order to calm me down. He was very loving. I never told Krillin about my dreams. They were of memories that he just didn't need to be burdened with knowing about.

They were all of my life prior to being kidnapped and then the few years in which I was in Gero's care. Sometimes it would be nightmares of the things Gero did to me, other times it would be of me seeing Krillin charge Majin Buu. All of them were horrible and Krillin had helped me through all of them. However, Krillin wasn't here to help me through this one now.

At least Marron was coming. She was some comfort. Trunks wasn't, but the kids made up for his lack of comforting me. I suddenly sensed five power levels approaching. Quickly I wiped my face of my tears. Maybe Roshi was right. I might need my family to comfort me for now. I took the turtle soup and drank it quickly. The once hot soup had become cold due to me crying for awhile. I almost threw up when I sensed a sixth power level.

It was far more powerful than the others. The power was massive. There were only two people who had power of this magnitude and Goku had already gone back to otherworld for the next two months. _'Damn it Vegeta! What does he want?!'_

Without even thinking about anything else I got dressed in my black tank top that Krillin had bought me a long time ago. It was one of the few clothes I actually had strong feelings for. Krillin had actually given this to me as a replacement for an old shirt he had accidently ripped while we trained. Trunks landed his hover-car and let everyone got out before he put it back into its capsule.

I grunted angrily as Vegeta landed behind his son. For the past year, Trunks and Vegeta had been going through some sort of conflict. Personally, I couldn't care less about the whole situation. I have been preoccupied with dealing with Krillin's death, but it had been nice not having to see that arrogant bastard. Now it seemed that they had made up. I told Krillin once that he was the only member of our little group of friends that I actually cared for and I had meant it. Vegeta was the one I hated most though. He treated his family like garbage. Then Bulma died and I guess he started to regret treating his family as such. I don't care.

Little cries of joy were heard as the children ran to hug Master Roshi. Trunks walked slowly over to the old man while holding Marron's hand. Vegeta stood looking directly up at me. I shivered a bit and walked away from the window. I never liked to think about what made me and Vegeta hate each other so.

It had been before Krillin had tried to ask me out that it happened. Bulma apparently hadn't ordered Vegeta to marry him yet either. Cell had only been gone for a few months when Vegeta came to me. He wanted to fight. I had wanted to smash Vegeta's arrogant head in since he let Cell absorb me. We fought. Of course Vegeta won, but the outcome was far different than what either of us wanted.

The fight ended and for some reason Vegeta and I kept looking at each other. There was something on both of our minds. His mind wasn't very hard to guess the thought of. All he wanted was to have sex with someone who wouldn't die if he went all out. In his eyes, that was me. Vegeta jumped me and I didn't resist. I hadn't had sex in such a long while that I had almost forgotten how it felt. Needless to say, Vegeta went all out.

It was amazing. I couldn't walk for a few hours. That was the best I had ever had. A week later Krillin asked me out. That was the beginning of our relationship. Krillin was a virgin and I didn't want to upset him by telling him about my experience in the matter, so I lied to him. That was the first of many lies about my past I told Krillin. He just didn't need to be burdened by the knowledge I wasn't as sexually pure as he thought.

Vegeta surely enjoyed it, but he told me it would never happen again. I don't know why and I didn't care. I had Krillin and Vegeta had Bulma and a son.

I sensed three little power levels making their way up the stair of Kame house. A smile slowly made its way onto my face as I reached for the doorknob. I couldn't be said if I was about to be pounced by my grandchildren.

As soon as I had opened the door, I was bombarded by two little hugs. The force of the hugs knocked me back onto the floor. I had gotten very used to this. Every time they came over was like this. After a few seconds of listening to the playful giggles from the two little children as they tried to pin me down, I stood up supporting each of them with a separate arm. Standing in the hallway with her hands behind her back was the third one. She was far more hyper than her sister, but she would never wrinkle her clothes by tackling me.

"You know Tara; you don't have to stand there like a statue. You can give you're grandmother a hug." Tara walked over to me cheerily and wrapped her little arms around my waist.

Tara stepped away from me so that I could walk downstairs with her brother and sister in my arms. "Grandma, do you think you can help me pick a dress out while Dee and Chestnut train?" She walked beside me looking up into my eyes.

"I'm fine with that, but why do you need a new dress?" Thanks to Trunks, the three kids got a life of luxury, but it was still uncommon that Tara would need a new dress. She usually liked to wear the dresses she already owned until they go out of style and we had already been shopping once this month.

"She's got a date!" The little boy squirmed in my arms with laughter.

Tara blushed brightly as the boy laughed continuously. "Shut up! It isn't a date!"

"You wish it was!" The little boy jumped down from arms and ran playfully away from the angry Tara.

"Shut up Chestnut!" With a grunt, Tara stomped off after Chestnut. They always argued like this. They reminded me of little Goten and Trunks. Trunks was always preoccupied with looking good and Goten would tease him about it.

I heard a small voice speak up from my shoulder, "Does that mean you aren't going to train with me grandma?" The voice was practically a whisper. It was like she didn't want to give me trouble of any kind.

"I'm going to train with you after I help Tara with her dress. It shouldn't take long. Your mother could take care of any details about the dress. Tara just wants me as a third opinion." Dee gave me an adorable smile as she jumped down from my arms. In a lot of ways she reminded me of Krillin with her not wanting to hurt others.


End file.
